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Day 0, Tuesday ::: With X-Cargo securely attached to old Brownie, we leave Ferndale relatively on time, scooping up Stevers in Woodbridge on the way. We start the night with the Jimmie Rodgers Train Whistle Blues cd. It's all about hobos and railroad bums and brakemen, getting us in the mood for 6 days of transient living. Also some Merle Haggard. Makes sense for the flat expanse of Ohio Turnpike. Speaking of which - that turnpike has the best rest areas. Quite restful. Burgundy & Aaron opt for BK as it is the only vendor open. Please note that prices have risen substantially on said roadway. Our one-way fare went from $6 in May to over $15 this time.

Day 1, Wednesday ::: Wake up on top of a mountain in Clarion, PA. Make our fancy waffles at Comfort Inn's fancy waffle bar. Lovely 5-hr drive along I-80.... mountains, Gandalf. Fall colors, deer carcasses, another ride on the Jimmie Rodgers express. Pick up our badges & gift bags in Washington Square Park. Quite different from years past, with a DIY kinda feel to the whole thing. Last time was convention-y @ the Hilton on 6th Ave in midtown. Pretty cool that Amp Energy (drink) sponsors both CMJ & Dale Earnhardt Jr. Nothing worthwhile in the bags, other than the festival guide and a pick. The bags themselves are kinda cheap and tacky too. Well - there are 2 CDs, have to give them a spin. Tonight's show is at Public Assembly (used to be Galapagos - the charm factor isn't there, no indoor lagoon nor ambiance). Nice crowd. Not a bad night, though the on-stage sound was the pits. Vocal monitors completely useless. Burgundy has one of his patented 'When Good Cables Go Bad' moments. Dinosaur Feathers folks are really nice. LGM labelmates The Secret History share a keyboard stand & a tambo with us. Thanks to Clyde [Twenty Seven Media] for putting this event together, and for the pizza too. Thanks to Steve for the 1/2 pint of Jim Beam. So, luck of the Irish, Broadcast & Atlas Sound are playing right next door at Music Hall. Burgundy gets there in time for the entire Broadcast set, hoofing it back to our comfy digs at The Gretsch [Guitar!] Building. Aaron & Stevers split with friends putting them up.

Just singing about things I like. Ramblin’ on with Zeppelin and Tolkien. Through The Past, Darkly with the Stones in an octagonal record jacket. Through A Glass, Darkly with Ingmar Bergman. The song title leans toward the film Sans Soleil by Chris Marker, which itself references Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky.

And when all the celebrations are over it remains only to pick up all the ornaments—all the accessories of the celebration—and by burning them, make a celebration.

I don’t know what the hell that is about, but it makes me think of celebrating the end of the year by burning an Xmas tree and decorations in the front yard. Dancing around it madly, chanting Sto lat! and eating the last of the candy cane cookies.

I was talking with a friend about good creepy songs for a Halloween party - One Way Or Another by Blondie was mentioned. She said it was about a stalker. Armed with this new and trivial knowledge, I scoured the web in search of other stalking songs. By chance, I stumbled upon Tarkovsky’s Stalker. The second half of our song visits The Zone as imagined by me before I saw the film.

White Hinterland was such a joy. This was the first I'd heard/seen them & I was so pleased to be playing with them. Not only was the music splendid & intricate but Casey & Shawn were both so nice & revealed to us their fantastic food blog & illustrative work, respectively.

Nonsense & non-sequiturs abound. Copious compliments & credit must be given to the WIZARD & SEXY VAMPIRES who made an already exquisite night even better than could have been imagined.